The Gulf Oil spill, otherwise known as the Deep Horizon/BP spill, is the largest spill in all of american history. Throughout the 87 days that the well stood open it leaked over 200 million gallons of crude oil, and damaging about 16,000 miles of coastline, despite the collective efforts of around 30,000 people and the use of over 5.5 million feet of boom, a floating barrier used in an attempt to stop oil from spreading. (Smithsonian, “Gulf Oil Spill”) It has affected the wildlife and habitats around it for hundreds of miles in each direction and scientists and political leaders are still trying to decide what would be best for the environment and the nation. The debate has reached a hot spot recently and continues to be a The ethical perspectives
…show more content…
Oil and other natural gases are very important to the way we live and if we would be able to tap into the vast oil reserves in the Pacific Ocean it could lower prices and create large tax revenues as well as making thousands of jobs. The oil would fuel ships, trains, cars and airplanes as well as the numerous everyday items that contain it. With the obvious benefits of the oil for today’s society, it is understood that, “As long as companies drill for oil carefully and mindfully, oil well drilling offers benefits for both the global economy and the global environment.” (Flournoy, Blake. “Oil Drilling Benefits.”) Also, some scientists have noticed that offshore oil drilling is not the worst amount of maritime pollution and is helping the environment even though it is normally thought that offshore oil drilling is very bad for the environment. The greatest source of ocean oil/gas pollution is actually natural offshore oil seepage. In fact, offshore oil drilling has decreased the extent of the seepage by depleting the oil used in the natural oil seepages and therefor helping the oceans. (Allen, Bruce “How Offshore Oil and Gas Production Benefits the Economy and the …show more content…
With the possibility of major oil spills and ecosystem annihilation oil rigs are a ticking time bomb, the Gulf oil spill which resulted in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the deaths of 11 workers changed the way people look at offshore oil drilling. President Barack Obama was one of the people changed by it, he put in place restrictions and safety regulations that have helped to reduce the number of oil spills in the past few years. Also, Obama did not allow oil rigs to be in certain locations around the US and made sure that the oil rigs were outside of a certain distance from the shore. Recently, though the Trump administration declared that it would “...allow new offshore oil and gas drilling in nearly all United States coastal waters, giving energy companies access to leases off California for the first time in decades and opening more than a billion acres in the Arctic and along the Eastern Seaboard.” (Lipton, “Written With Human Blood”). This statement negates the restriction put in place by President Obama and continues to follow the Trump administration’s ideas about stamping out ‘environmental restrictions’ and replacing them with bigger energy creating industries. Thousands of animals were killed from hundreds of species, including ones under the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Thousands of miles of coastline were damaged and millions of feet of boom were
Oil and other natural gases are very important to the way we live and if we would be able to tap into the vast oil reserves in the Pacific Ocean it could lower prices and create large tax revenues as well as making thousands of jobs. The oil would fuel ships, trains, cars and airplanes as well as the numerous everyday items that contain it. With the obvious benefits of the oil for today’s society, it is understood that, “As long as companies drill for oil carefully and mindfully, oil well drilling offers benefits for both the global economy and the global environment.” (Flournoy, Blake. “Oil Drilling Benefits.”) Also, some scientists have noticed that offshore oil drilling is not the worst amount of maritime pollution and is helping the environment even though it is normally thought that offshore oil drilling is very bad for the environment. The greatest source of ocean oil/gas pollution is actually natural offshore oil seepage. In fact, offshore oil drilling has decreased the extent of the seepage by depleting the oil used in the natural oil seepages and therefor helping the oceans. (Allen, Bruce “How Offshore Oil and Gas Production Benefits the Economy and the …show more content…
With the possibility of major oil spills and ecosystem annihilation oil rigs are a ticking time bomb, the Gulf oil spill which resulted in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the deaths of 11 workers changed the way people look at offshore oil drilling. President Barack Obama was one of the people changed by it, he put in place restrictions and safety regulations that have helped to reduce the number of oil spills in the past few years. Also, Obama did not allow oil rigs to be in certain locations around the US and made sure that the oil rigs were outside of a certain distance from the shore. Recently, though the Trump administration declared that it would “...allow new offshore oil and gas drilling in nearly all United States coastal waters, giving energy companies access to leases off California for the first time in decades and opening more than a billion acres in the Arctic and along the Eastern Seaboard.” (Lipton, “Written With Human Blood”). This statement negates the restriction put in place by President Obama and continues to follow the Trump administration’s ideas about stamping out ‘environmental restrictions’ and replacing them with bigger energy creating industries. Thousands of animals were killed from hundreds of species, including ones under the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Thousands of miles of coastline were damaged and millions of feet of boom were